Photographs by Ollie Wykeham

For news on next year’s Australasian Hardcourt Bike Polo Championships, go here

Well Ned isn’t just one of the prettiest faces in Australasian bike polo, he is one the reigning Australasian champs.  He is the only player I have ever seen get out of his polo clothes and into a suit for the plane ride home. I personally think there should be more of this.  Here’s a little more about Ned.

City:  Perth, Australia

Team: NASFWG (Not a single fuck was given)

Years played:  10 months

Super power:  Ned was unable to give one, I am going to say it’s hair products

Favourite heckle: Truthful things

Bike:  Eighth Inch Scrambler V3

Mallet:  Fixcraft shaft with uncapped closed sides head

Protection:  Gloves, knee pads, shin guards

What do you love most about bike polo?
It’s bike polo!

By Virginia Castellan

If you missed our last player profile on Nathanael Fournier you can access it here

The face-mask is the new vouge of Australian polo. Or so it seemed at AHBPC12 in Perth. For the boys seemed to be looking to protect their assets by any means necessary. Unlike our ever tough polo ladies, who laughed at this wanten display of vanity. Here are a couple of photos I snatched between beers and hangs. There aren’t many photos, I was having too much fun, drinking/talking/pickup all took priority, so enjoy the few I have.

Ned demonstrating the Mycro Hurling helmet he, Scottie and Jordy-Boy swear by, these helmets seem light, durable and the cage does not block the view like others. Jordan upgraded to one of these from a cricket helmet, which he said limited his view too much. (I want a Mycro, but I still secretly want to try a cricket helmet first!)

Domenico, my team mate (♥), opted for a Bauer ice hockey mask. His is clear perspex. This avoids any potential inhibited vision, but the down side is it can fog up. He was telling me that in big games when he is sweaty and under the pump that it is like being in a sauna.
From the man himself:

“You can’t touch your face at all. But it’s extremely light weight and you forget you have it on you face. As after a game at Nats in Perth I slammed a beer into the fish bowl.”

Rob once again testing Teds ice hockey mask. Teddy Boy bought this off ebay for cheap cheap cheap in the days before nationals, he wore it a little but said it was uncomfortable. To be honest I think it cramped his reckless style. Ether way we got his moneys worth for him in one night of drunken antics pre AHBPC12. This looks to be a great budget option.

This is Jamie attempting to punish himself after asking Ted to put the mask on, then punching him hard in the face. No Ted’s were hurt in the making of this photo. Nor in the testing of these masks. Nor in the pre AHBPC12 celebrations.

If DIY is your thing, or you want some more options or discussion have a look at the LoBP thread on this matter.

In conclusion: if you want to protect your pretty looks, get a face cage.
There are plenty of options out there, just be smart and weigh up the pros and cons, or as Wikipedia just taught me the “pro et contra” – (the original Latin, meaning for and against.)

By Ollie Wykeham

Well what can I say about Scotty?  There’s a lot I really want to write but I know that he will send this to his Mum.  I met her at AHBPC 2012 and she is really lovely so I will try to hold back.  Nobody is better at not giving a fuck that Scotty.  Pretty much every photo of every game of AHBPC 2011 had Scotty in the background, laying across the barriers, one arm under his head, sunglasses on, absolutely motionless despite the action in front of him. NASFWG, indeed.  Here’s a little more about Scotty.

City:  Perth

Team:  NASFWG (Not a single fuck was given)

Years played:  1

Super power:  Not giving a fuck

Favourite heckle: I beat Ned in the joust! I beat Ned in the joust!

Bike:  Charge frame, freewheel with dual brake and 30:18 ratio

Mallet:  Fixcraft with uncapped head with closed sides

Protection:  Gloves and a face mask

What do you love most about bike polo?
People

If you missed our last player profile on William Jetnikoff, you can access it here

By Virginia Castellan

In last weeks edition of the City Report we talked with Andrew Tipene from Melbourne. This week we talk to Derren Hall about bike polo in Perth, Australia.

How long has polo been played in Perth?
3.5 years

How many regular players do you have?
23ish

How often do you play?
Every Sunday and some random weekdays

Tell us about your courts
Our courts are 18m x 34m with a smooth concrete surface - perfect polo surface. Not so smooth that you slide, not so textured that it shreds skin – much.

How many different courts do you use?
Two.  The main one is at Edith Cowan University Mount Lawley. We also play at fremantle  from time to time.  They have been struggling to get their own numbers up.  We hope that one day Freotown has it’s own rival scene for some cross town comps

Do you pay to hire your courts?  Do you have lights?
Our court is free.  We feel really lucky to have found this court. It’s within a ten minute ride for over half of our regular players. It has inbuilt barriers on two sides of the court (we bring the other two) and security love to see us there, even though we don’t have official approval.  We do use Mattie’s lights occasionally (thanks Mattie) – could do with buying some of our own.

Have you had any tournaments or demos lately?/Do you have any tournaments or demos coming up?
Um, yes. You might remember a little tournie we had back in March (2012 Australasian Hardcourt Bike Polo Championships) with a record 23 teams attending. Perhaps the biggest the ever in the southern hemisphere! We’re very proud of how it all went – although, the barriers could’ve been better. We recently did a demonstration with Kwinana Youth. We were paid for it – but it was  mostly about being seen giving back to the community. You know, giving some kids a roll around on a decent bike and a tap with a mallet.  If we’re lucky it could lead to something positive in return, perhaps access to new venues or grants.

What have you found works the best to get new players?
 I think that most of our players have found us through the internet. Some intentionally, some just stumbled upon it. We’ve have had three documentary films made on us and two newspaper articles. Sadly, I’m fairly sure they did not inspire any new players to actually show up. Word of mouth is a close second. Perth player Lachy Ritchie heads a co-op called http://dismantle.org.au.   This project is a veritable goldmine of potential players for Perth and Fremantle. Not only can the dismantle network send us players but the newbie can also build up their own polo bike (with direction from the ever helpful Lachy) for very little cash outlay.

Tell us an interesting face about your city
Perth is the sunniest capital city in the world, with an average 8 hours per day sunshine 365 days per year. Weekly games are rarely interrupted by rain. I’d guess it’s only rained during polo on less than ten days out of the last 150+ Sundays.

Questions by Virginia Castellan

Answers by Derren Hall

Photographs by Emily Dimozantos

Look out for next weeks City Report featuring another polo playing city of Australia or New Zealand.

My sources in Perth tell me you will not find anyone more lazy than Yohei in Western Australia and possibly the entire country.   All he can manage to do besides playing polo is work 2 jobs, study full time and also go cycle touring in far off dangerous places such as New Zealand and Tasmania.  Yohei really needs to put a bit more effort into life and try to occasionally pass the ball.  (Sorry Yohei – they made me say that.)  Here’s a little more about Yohei.

City:  Perth, Australia

Team:  Godzilla Symphony

Years played:  3 years

Super power: Godzilla Power

Favourite heckle: It’s in Korean

Bike:  Vispa, free wheel with dual brake and 25:16 ratio

Mallet:  Fixcraft pole with uncapped head with cut-out sides

Protection:  Gloves, knee pads and glasses

What do you love most about bike polo?
People

If you missed our last player profile on Andrew Tipene, you can access it here

By Virginia Castellan

You rarely see Nick without a smile on his face which is good because you definitely need a sense of humour to play to keep playing with some of those jerks in Perth.  Nick came to Sydney when we had our Cirque tournament earlier in the year and was so good we let him play on two teams!  Here’s a little more about Nick.

City:  Perth, Australia

Team:  Godzilla Symphony

Years played:  3 years

Super power:  Symphonic Power

Favourite heckle: “Such a pretty face”

Bike:  Giant Bowry, freewheel with dual brake and 22:16 ratio

Mallet:  Fixcraft pole with uncapped head with cut-out sides

Protection:  Gloves

What do you love most about bike polo?
The community

If you missed our last player profile on Tom Partington, you can access it here

By Virginia Castellan